Gaming news too small for its own thread

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-08-13-konamis-canned-castlevania-grimoire-of-souls-being-revived-for-apple-arcade

Mobile game Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls gets revived

[fuse]

12 Minutes is out this week! Completely missed until now though that it's PC/XBox exclusive.

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Might have to wait for the Steam Deck before I get to play it.

[QualityChimp]

Will We Ever See A New Lost Planet Game?

I really enjoyed the first two games, especially the second.
The co-op element was just fantastic and it was such a varied and visually dramatic game:
Blowing up giant worms in the desert, combining mechs on rain-lashed sea cliffs, going from deep snow into lush rainforest, doing a prison break and fighting low gravity in space are just some examples.

The third game just seem to lose all the charm.

I hope we see another Lost Planet from the original team one day, with lots of great co-op moments.

"Is there even a future for a game like Lost Planet? I hope so, if only because its bombastic spectacle, particularly with regards to the second game, made it one of the most enjoyable Xbox 360 games on offer. Finding a team of players to work together and man a massive railway cannon, which requires other players to help defend the gunner or reload the weapon, made for an inventive and thrilling co-op experience that other games weren’t really experimenting with back in 2010."

[Neon Ignition]

I like the rough idea but Lost Planet was a franchise that Capcom clearly hadn't got a clue what to do with, amazed it lasted three entries

[QualityChimp]

I'd love a remastered LP2 like the Resi games, but I'm guessing the backwards compatible nature of the 360 version playable on the One and Series S/X (X'Press) means it's unlikely.

Third game killed the series with a revert to single-player only and an unfortunate release near Dead Space 3, another over-the-shoulder shooter against aliens on a snowy planet, as the article says.

That second game had it all, though. Just flicking through pics reminded me of the variety, like a beach invasion or underwater level.

[QualityChimp]

[chopemon]

LP1 and 2 had such a unique feel to play. They didn't control like other shooters. At the time everyone wanted slick and frictionless game feel but I loved how characterful the gameplay felt in LP1 and 2. Some parts were snappy and some parts had animation priority on that put people off. I replayed 1 recently and it still looks lovely but is a very PS2 linear shooter feeling game which is fine by me but was overshadowed by Gears etc.

LP2 had incredible variety. Amazing boss fights, all time best coop levels on the train, huge battles and unique enemies. Love the way it feels and looks. Love the industrial feel to the mechs and outfits. LP3 was Capcom trying to hit it big by going with a Western dev. They sucked all that made it unique out of the game. Capcom are a lot more confident with their unique game feel now that MonHun has got really big so if they ever do a new LP it could be great.

I always wanted EX Troopers to get localised. I played through it on PS3 and it was a cracking game that deserved a wider audience.

[QualityChimp]

Lost Planet always had a pretty unique control scheme, that was really great, but unlike most other games.
It's an on-going joke with my friends that I'd been playing Lost Planet and then invited to play Rainbow Six: Vegas with them.

At the start of the level, I said "Which is the grenade button again?" QUALITYCHIMP HAS COMMITED SUICIDE.

However, I felt like a ninja in LP when I got my groove. Spotting the lips of walls to grapple-launch over, combat roll reloads and quick turns to get the drop on other players.

It's one of the few games where I've been able to compete online with all but the highest ranked players.
You'd get to a certain time at night when the Japanese players came on with triple-figure player levels, sniping you without ever knowing where they were!

That's why I enjoyed LP2 more as I'm a co-op guy, but I really enjoyed the powerpost capture mode that encouraged teamwork.

I'll be honest, I nearly renewed my Xbox Live subscription, purely to play LP2 the other week!

[Asura]

Lost Planet remains one of those games I owned for its entire life but never touched the single-player even once. I was just having too much fun with the multiplayer.

[QualityChimp]

I remember absolutely rinsing the demo multiplayer level, finding all sorts of ways to sneak attack the other players.

My fave was going to the doors at one end of the map, where there'd normally be a sniper rifle on the small ledge above it.
Then I'd walk off the edge and it would autofire the grappling hook and I'd hang in the shadows taking out unsuspecting players.

[chopemon]

In the early days of Xbox 360 Live you couldn't do party chat or mute people in lobbies and I spent a lovely few hours in a lobby with a bunch of Japanese players. They were all having a great time, chatting and laughing. Such a difference compared to the angry Western players I was normally encountering.

The LP1 Colonies Edition was great as you could play as the akrid in multiplayer. It didn't have much of an active community but I had a few great matches in it.

[Asura]

In the early days of Xbox 360 Live you couldn't do party chat or mute people in lobbies and I spent a lovely few hours in a lobby with a bunch of Japanese players. They were all having a great time, chatting and laughing. Such a difference compared to the angry Western players I was normally encountering.

From within Japan, Xbox Live was quite different to the west. Games like Dead or Alive 4, Lost Planet and Chrome Hounds had active playerbases well into the machine's life.

You could get a game of Gears of War or Halo 3, but I found you were often playing with US Marines who were stationed in the country.

Also, sad to say that you did sometimes get kicked from lobbies for saying anything in English. Even just "hello".

[wakka]

In my experience friendly online comms wasn't just a Japan thing, more an early-days-of-360-Live thing. I used to be chucked into lobbies with really great groups when playing Ridge Racer 6. Had so much fun playing that game online.

Generally I rarely play multiplayer stuff though. Although I played a TON of Modern Warfare 2019, and kept myself muted and party chat off for it. There's no vibe to speak of so it's not worth keeping on. Although I did like to teabag the ground to clap my compatriot when they did well in Gunfight, where you're paired with a single team mate for multiple rounds

[monel]

I rarely played online early that gen, just didn't want to play strangers. But the few arcade games I tried had some cool down to earth people. Obviously there were other types of player but depending on the game I met some really decent people of varied backgrounds.

But I still avoid online play generally as I miss local multiplayer games. And I hardly play anything, for years now.

[Cassius_Smoke]

So Hades has sold 93% of its total sales on PlayStation. This article echos my thoughts.

Edit: reading again its Box sales vs Game pass... Not exactly a direct comparison.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2021/08/17/93-of-hades-box-sales-are-on-playstation-raising-an-xbox-game-pass-question/?sh=6b96c605a1b2